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Beef and Pork Ragù

Ground beef and chunks of pork are slow cooked with tomatoes, peppers, carrots, mushrooms and paprika to create a hearty, rustic ragù.
Course Main Course, Pasta, Stew
Cuisine Italian
Servings 6 at least

Ingredients

  • olive oil
  • 1/2 pound ground beef
  • 1-1/2 pounds pork loin, cut into small chunks and cubes
  • 2 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes—don't drain off the liquid
  • 1 ounce 6-can tomato paste
  • 2 red bell peppers, seeded and coarsely chopped
  • 2 cups coarsely chopped onion
  • 3/4 cup chopped celery
  • 1/2 cup carrot cut into thin coins
  • 4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
  • 3 tablespoons paprika
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 2 tablespoons fresh chopped tarragon (or 2 teaspoons dried tarragon)
  • 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
  • 1/2 bottle dry red wine, plus more as needed
  • black pepper
  • 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
  • salt
  • 1 pound hefty pasta (see Kitchen Notes)

Instructions

  • First, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a nonstick sauté pan. Cook the ground beef, breaking it up into small chunks until it is no longer red. Drain the beef on paper towels, then transfer to a heavy-bottomed stock pot.
  • Next, brown the pork on all sides in the sauté pan and add it to the big pot. Deglaze the sauté pan with a splash of red wine and pour the wine into the pot.
  • Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the sauté pan. When it is medium hot, add 1/2 cup of the onion, all the garlic, 1/2 cup of the celery and 1/2 cup of the bell pepper to the pan and cook until the onion is translucent and limp, about 6 minutes. Add the paprika to the pan; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Then add this mixture to the big pot. Deglaze the pan again with another splash of red wine and add the liquid to the big pot.
  • Add all the remaining ingredients except the mushrooms and salt to the pot. Stir everything together. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down very low so that everything simmers very slowly. At the start, there should be enough liquid to come up just to the top of the ingredients, not to cover them. (You can add more if you feel nervous—just take that into account at the other end of the process.) Stir occasionally—about every 15 minutes should do it to prevent sticking. After the first two hours, add the mushrooms, and give it all another stir. Keep simmering for at least another hour. I would say four hours is a minimum.
  • The ragù will be done when the liquid has cooked down so that the sauce is no longer soupy—you want it to be chunky, yet still wet, with the individual pieces clearly visible and everything all melded together into a wonderful fragrant whole.
  • When the ragù is about ready, cook the pasta according to directions. Drain it well and divide among shallow bowls. Spoon the ragù over the pasta, and serve.

Kitchen Notes

Can't find calamaro? This dish would work with any hefty shaped pasta, like rigatoni or conchiglie—not with a linear kind.
What is the difference between ragù and sugo? Sugos are sauces in general, while ragùs are a subset of them, characterized by plenty of meat and long, slow simmering.
And finally, you can adjust the amounts in the recipe to make a smaller amount, but why? We cooked the recipe as written the first night, except with just 6 ounces of pasta. We used 1/3 of the ragù for two servings. We divided the remaining ragù, refrigerating one half and freezing the other. We had the refrigerated half the next night. As for the frozen portion, I can't vouch for its long-term survival.